Contents
List of tables and figures Acknowledgements
1 Child poverty and child rights in developing countries 2 Measurement of child poverty and standard of living Introduction Income and child poverty International definitions of poverty Measuring child poverty in developing countries Operational measures of absolute poverty for children 3 Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world Introduction Summary of main results on absolute poverty Summary of main results of severe deprivation of basic human need Results by region Results by rural–urban locality Results by gender Extent of severe deprivation Distribution of severe deprivation Distribution of absolute poverty

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1 3 3 3 4 6 7 10 10 10 10 11 12 12 13 22 23

4 Conclusions and policy implications The causes of absolute poverty Sanitation Water Shelter Food Child and family benefit The needs of children in the 21st century The poverty of girls Regional and country-specific anti-poverty policies References Appendix: Severe deprivation and absolute poverty among children: country data

Italy. Birmingham University and LSE have generated a stimulating debate on the measurement of child poverty in developing countries. Rio de Janeiro and New York. support and encouragement. The dependable advice and support of Jean Corston and Helen Gordon throughout this project is also warmly acknowledged. Meghnad Desai and David Piachaud. in particular. While a great deal of national and international research on Articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been completed. John Micklewright. The DHS data were provided by MACRO International whose staff were extremely helpful and gave us a great deal of assistance. In a succession of meetings with UNICEF staff and. Several classes of postgraduate students at both the University of Bristol. The establishment of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science
(LSE) has been a source of inspiration during the period of the research and. The idea for the work sprang from the new focus on children themselves rather than on families and communities in general that was reflected in UNICEF’s programme during the 1990s. We would also like to thank Enrique Delamonica and Bill O’Neil for their very helpful comments on the first draft. at meetings in London.
vi
. Giovanni Andrea Cornia and Jane Falkingham for the ideas being developed and especially the comparative studies on the transition countries of Eastern Europe published by the Innocenti Research Centre in Florence. Conor Gearty. the plan described in these pages evolved and was agreed. Thanks are due to Jo Beall. The first priority was to review direct and indirect information about children and to find the strengths and weaknesses of existing data about children’s conditions and needs. have argued through ideas relevant to the research. with Alberto Minujin. of Ceema Namazie in reviewing child data in Kyrgyz is gratefully acknowledged. Jan Vandemoortele also provided us with considerable help. The valuable assistance. involving collaborative work between the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Jonathan Bradshaw. Christine Chinkin and the first Director of the Centre.Child poverty in the developing world
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their thanks to UNICEF for providing a grant which funded two stages of research developed from 2000. in particular. in the early weeks. the relationship between child poverty and child rights had not been fully explored.

17. UNICEF has argued that poverty is one of the greatest obstacles to the survival and development of children. it was found that some of the trends in the 1980s and 1990s had deepened rather than lifted public concern. Poverty denies children their fundamental human rights. other than in East Asia and the Pacific. Full details of this research will be published in a future book on this subject. the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and national progress reports from nearly 150 countries (UNICEF. UNICEF has reported on progress towards these goals1. Both research and administrative data show that investment in basic social services for children is a key element to ensure success in alleviating their poverty. 2001. 2003). the number of people in developing countries. In successive annual reports. from data collected in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). both in terms of incomes and social outcomes” (UNICEF. In a statement prepared for the end-of-the-decade review. If there are insufficient resources to satisfy children’s needs – however hard parents can be shown to try – then this can cause other obligations and relationships to crumble.
1
In 2000.
1
. 45). the Executive Director of UNICEF. Since 1987. The near-consensus reached by all national governments in framing the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child gave momentum to serious and effective work to reduce violations of a number of rights relevant to the reduction of child poverty in different countries. community and society. And “the evidence is compelling that the 1990s saw a widening in the gap between rich and poor countries as well as between rich and poor people within countries. including the roles they are expected to play successively as they get older in family. Severe or extreme poverty can cause children permanent damage – both physically and mentally – stunt and distort their development and destroy opportunities of fulfilment. with less than $1 a day. 2000. planned for September 2001 but postponed until May 2002. drawing on a range of sources not previously available. It also shows that a minimal level of family resources to enable parents to meet the needs of their children are required – even when families are prepared to put their own needs or the needs of work and other social claims on them in second place. It represents a summary of a much larger research report on child poverty and child rights funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (Gordon et al.1
Child poverty and child rights in developing countries
This short report presents the first ever scientific measurement of the extent and depth of child poverty in all the developing regions of the world. In 2000. The World Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit for Children in 1990 set forth a vision of a ‘first call’ for children by establishing seven major and 20 supporting goals that were quantifiable and considered achievable by 2000. 2002a). This is why UNICEF insists that “poverty reduction begins with children”. This measurement of child poverty is based on internationally agreed definitions arising from the international framework of child rights. an exhaustive and exacting end-of-decade review of progress towards the Summit goals was undertaken. In many countries. pp 9. had increased by 12 million a year. the extreme poor had been “left further behind”.

At the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children in September 2002. Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The 10 years since the 1990 World Summit for Children were found to have yielded mixed results. due in large part to immunisation programmes and the dedicated efforts of families and communities.4 million and under-five mortality from AIDS was expected to double by the year 2010 (UN. including. especially that affecting child poverty. despite these gains. A league table of child poverty in rich nations (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. 2002b). was of prime concern at the special session of the UN General Assembly in Geneva in June 2000. 2000). More than 175 countries were polio-free and 104 had eliminated neonatal tetanus. 2002c). It has actively participated in international conferences and government exchanges and published documents and promoted policies – many aimed at reducing child poverty. Poverty reduction begins with children (UNICEF. the latest information was debated. Yet. and the ramifying problems of children caught up in armed conflict. The reports from the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre cover a wide range of research into child rights and development in both rich and poor countries. UNICEF has strengthened its work on poverty. more than 10 million children still died each year from mostly preventable diseases – 150 million were estimated to be malnourished. was obliged to call attention to the “mixture of conspicuous achievement and dispiriting failure” for children. stronger leadership and more sustained policies were required (UNICEF.2 million to 10. Three million fewer children under the age of five now died each year. and extensive work on poverty in the transition economies and on the problems of child labour in India.
The authors of this report seek to contribute to the consolidation and extension of this work to include all the developing regions of the world. Despite some progress. for example. Its report. Most governments had not lived up to the promises made at the 1990 World Summit for Children. 2002 and see also UNICEF.
2
. 28 million fewer children under the age of five suffered the debilitating effects of malnutrition. In developing countries. The number of children orphaned by AIDS had grown from 1.Child poverty in the developing world
Carol Bellamy. 2000). some 600 million children still lived in poverty and more than 100 million – the majority of them girls – were not in school.

The revolution in volume. such as the Living Standards and Measurement Surveys (LSMS). derived from national accounts data. In fact. much of the statistical information on ‘children’ is derived from measures of the situation of the child’s family or main carer. there is a surprising lack of direct information on children per se. 2002). Numerous studies use these kinds of economic activity indicators as a proxy for poverty (for example. 2001). however. 2003. It was inherent inadequacies of these kinds of analysis that led to the growth of the social indicators movement in the 1960s (Bauer. However. this is a very crude way in which to measure and map child poverty. These kinds of economic statistics.2
Measurement of child poverty and standard of living
Introduction
This chapter will present a very brief summary of recent research on the international comparative measurement of child poverty. despite these advances and increasing concern about the issue of child poverty. The 1990s witnessed a revolution in the collection of high quality statistical information about the world’s children and their families. rather than on their inferred incomes from national accounts (Milanovic. There are. Analyses are so far available for both 1988 and 1993 and data for later years are currently being assembled. there are still few analyses of the standard of living and well-being of children in developing countries. Children are routinely considered as a property of their household and are assumed to share equally in its fortunes (or misfortunes). 1966). are only proxy measures of the social situation and living conditions within a country. For example. It would be possible to use the global household level income data from social surveys collected by Milanovic and his co-workers to produce a low income ‘poverty’ analysis for households with children for the regions of the world. and it must be remembered that there are large disparities in both income and living conditions within most countries as well as between them. The 21st century world is one in which a vast quantity of information on all aspects of human existence is easily available. often via the Internet. based on income rather than expenditure/consumption. Sachs et al. 2001. With the notable exception of basic health and education statistics. for discussion). a number of reasons why this kind of
Income and child poverty
One of the most commonly used international indicators of ‘poverty’ for both adults and children is
3
.
the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – or Gross National Product (GNP) – of a country. A range of harmonised survey instruments. coverage and quality of household survey data that occurred in the 1990s has recently allowed the analysis of income data on a global scale based on the directly measured income of households. the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) have been used successfully in a large number of countries (see Gordon et al. Although it can be expected that the distribution of child poverty would broadly conform with the global distribution of GDP per head. a similar type of analysis to the World Bank’s $1 per day poverty line could be used.

a child or their household is ‘poor’ when they have both a low standard of living and a lack of resources over time (often measured in terms of low income). Deprivation indices are broader measures because they reflect different aspects of living standards. like evolution or health. particularly for young children who have low food requirements but numerous additional basic needs that require expenditure. This assumption is unlikely to be correct for many ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ households with children. • Household-based income and expenditure/ consumption ‘poverty’ analyses usually assume an equal sharing of resources within a household. local and environmental facilities. including personal. • The extent of child poverty is not just dependent on family income but also on the availability of infrastructure and services.
International definitions of poverty
Poverty. Conversely. the World Bank’s (1990) consumption-based poverty definition in terms of the expenditure necessary to buy a minimum standard of nutrition is inappropriate for measuring child poverty. the effects of the lack of command over resources over time). such as health. Therefore. gender and location. Reddy and Pogge. a child or their household would not be considered to be ‘poor’ if they have a low income but a reasonable standard of living (although they are likely to be at risk of becoming ‘poor’). Many academic commentators have severely criticised the World Bank’s $1 per day poverty threshold for not being an adequate definition of adults’ needs in developing countries (for example. controlling for infrequent. deprivation indices are more accurate since consumption expenditure is often only measured over a brief period and is obviously not independent of income currently available. the correlation between the two becomes greater (see Townsend. 2001). In particular. parents often sacrifice their own needs in order to ensure that their children can have some of the things they need (that is. In scientific terms. physical and mental conditions. 2001. p 1176). • Internationally agreed definitions of poverty are all concerned with outcomes (for example.Child poverty in the developing world
approach to measuring child poverty in developing countries is far from ideal (see Gordon et al. equivalisation by household type. Many of the problems of measuring poverty arise because the moral and scientific concepts are often confused. Therefore. calculating equivalent spending power of national currencies using purchasing power parity. 1979. Of these two methods. see Atkinson. For scientific purposes. Comparative Research Programme on Poverty. quantifying the benefits from
‘home’ production and the use of durables. A low standard of living is often measured by using deprivation indicators (high deprivation equals a low standard of living) or by consumption expenditure (low consumption expenditure equals a low standard of living). In many circumstances. in ‘rich’ households parents may spend less than expected on young children so as not to ‘spoil’ them. data discontinuities. broad measures of both income and standard of living are desirable. any income or expenditure/consumption poverty threshold for children would have to be set at an essentially arbitrary level given the current lack of knowledge about children’s needs. In ‘poor’ families across the world. setting an arbitrary child poverty income threshold is unjustifiable and would be likely to lead to incorrect policy conclusions. • There are many technical problems involved in using either an income or expenditure/ consumption approach to measuring child poverty in developing countries. under-reporting bias and other measurement errors.
• Little is known about the income/expenditure/ consumption needs of children in most developing countries and how these needs may vary by age. for discussion). and so on (for a discussion of these issues. 1995. 1990. Standards of living comprise varied elements. including both the material and social conditions in which children and their families live and their
4
. is both a scientific and a moral concept. 2002). When the definition of income is extended operationally to include the value of assets and receipt of goods and services in kind. children are often allocated a disproportionate share of household resources). social activities and customs. Goodman and Webb. education and water supply. irregular or seasonal purchases. for example.

the international agreement at Copenhagen was a breakthrough and the governments of 117 countries agreed to these definitions of absolute and overall poverty. habitat and social development. by Boltvinik (1999) on behalf of the UN Development Programme. homelessness and inadequate housing. 1998)
Overall poverty takes various forms. refugees and internally displaced persons are also particularly vulnerable to poverty. cultural. The aim was to link – if not reconcile – the difference between industrialised and developing world conceptions. allow more reliable comparisons to be made between countries and regions and to make easier the identification of acceptable priorities for action. 1998). social and cultural life. sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict. a violation of human dignity. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries. more recently. indigenous people. education and information. increased morbidity and mortality from illness. shelter. not having access to credit. It means susceptibility to violence.. Women bear a disproportionate burden of poverty and children growing up in poverty are often permanently disadvantaged. as well as a major health risk. population. It is also characterised by lack of participation in decision-making and in civil. Poverty eradication “is the key international commitment and a central objective of the United Nations system”. poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities. (UN Economic and Social Council. and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments. A wide range of different methods have been used by governments and academic researchers to measure poverty and the merits and problems of each method have been classified and discussed by the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) of the International Social Science Council (Øyen et al. poverty in its various forms represents a barrier to communication and access to services. Older people. the poverty of low-wage workers. It means insecurity. A major problem with many previous attempts to measure poverty on a global scale is that there was no agreed definition of poverty.Measurement of child poverty and standard of living
participation in the social. powerlessness and exclusion of individuals. and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems. social institutions and safety nets. and people living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of disasters and conflicts.
After the Copenhagen Summit. women. pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries..
discrimination and exclusion. households and communities. a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs. not having a school or clinic to go to. Furthermore. economic and political life of their country. This situation changed at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen (UN. lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. including children. limited or lack of access to education and other basic services.. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. the UN established four task forces to prepare coordinated action on the major commitments from all the global summits.. Among the innovations agreed in the 1995 Copenhagen declaration and programme of action was the preparation of national anti-poverty plans based on measures in all countries of ‘absolute’ and ‘overall’ poverty. ill health. safe drinking water. including:
. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services. 1996) and. 2000). sanitation facilities. It means not having enough to feed and cloth a family. including food. Absolute poverty is defined as:
. hunger and malnutrition. health. people with disabilities. Poverty was described as:
Fundamentally. not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living. 1995). loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession. without access to clean water or sanitation. The conclusion of this work was a statement of commitment to action to eradicate poverty issued in June 1998 by the executive heads of all UN agencies (Langmore. unsafe environments and social
5
. In developing anti-poverty strategies. Social science research has shown that all cultures have a concept and definition of poverty although these definitions often vary (Gordon and Spicker.

Deprivations involve a lack of something generally held to be desirable – an adequate income. whether material. the primary
6
. roads. and of the unit of analysis are not purely technical matters.Child poverty in the developing world
Income is important but access to public goods – safe water supply. good health. In particular. (Sen. in their major review of over 100 years of literature on deprivation. in developing countries. poverty is best measured directly using indicators of standard of living rather than indirectly using income or consumption measures:
In an obvious sense the direct method is superior to the income method … it could be argued that only in the absence of direct information regarding the satisfaction of the specified needs can there be a case for bringing in the intermediary of income.Vandemoortele. health and other public services in many parts of the world that is as significant a cause of child poverty as low family incomes. Brown and Madge (1982). and poverty measurement clearly needs to respond to these views. experienced by people who are poor. 1995). These are the views of both the governments of the world and the institutions of the UN. 2000).
Measuring child poverty in developing countries
The purpose of the research detailed in this report was to produce the first accurate and reliable measure of the extent and severity of child poverty in the developing world using internationally agreed definitions of poverty. Atkinson (1990) has argued that:
The definition of the poverty indicator. physical. and therefore can be distinguished from the concept of poverty.
The two concepts of poverty and deprivation are tightly linked but there is general agreement that the concept of deprivation covers the various conditions. Any cross-country comparison of poverty has therefore to consider the purposes of this analysis and the relationship between these objectives and those pursued within the countries studied. moderate and severe deprivation to extreme deprivation at the end of the scale (Gordon. healthcare. Figure 2. etc – a lack which is associated to a greater or lesser extent with some degree of suffering. There is a need to look beyond income and consumption expenditure poverty measures and at both the effects of low family income on children and the effects of inadequate service provision for children (Mehrotra et al. emotional. The governments of 117 countries agreed that absolute poverty is “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs” (UN. emotional or social states or circumstances) rather than resources and to specific and not only general circumstances. Amartya Sen. particularly in developing countries.
Furthermore. education – is of equal or greater importance.1 illustrates this concept. as recognised by a fair degree of societal consensus. 2002). 1981)
objective was to produce an operational measure of absolute poverty for children as agreed at the World Summit for Social Development. They involve judgements about the objectives of policy. physical or behavioural. has argued that. argued that:
Deprivations are loosely regarded as unsatisfactory and undesirable circumstances. so that the income method is at most a second best. while the concept of poverty refers to the lack of income and other resources which make those conditions inescapable or at least highly likely. Deprivation can be conceptualised as a continuum that ranges from no deprivation. family or group belongs. of the poverty level. The idea has come to be applied to conditions (that is. Nobel Laureate. It is a lack of investment in good quality education. Townsend (1987) has argued that:
Deprivation may be defined as a state of observable and demonstrable disadvantage relative to the local community or the wider society or nation to which an individual. through mild.
Similarly. independent of income. 2000.

of which over 380. This is probably the largest and most accurate survey sample of children ever assembled. the China Health and Nutrition Surveys. as far as is practicable.000 households. Table 2.400) represents a lower sampling fraction (one child in every 4. The measures used were2: 1) Severe food deprivation: children whose heights and weights for their age were more than –3 standard deviations below the median of the international reference population. It was not possible to use the survey data to operationalise the idealised definitions of severe deprivation of basic human need that we had established prior to the data analysis phase of this research (see Table 2. much more recently – see Gordon et al. we have defined ‘severe deprivation of basic human need’ as those circumstances that are highly likely to have serious adverse consequences for the health. severe anthropometric failure.
7
.2). The total number of children in this aggregated sample was nearly 1. for China.1 shows the idealised operational definitions of deprivation for the eight criteria in the World Summit definition of absolute poverty (from Gordon et al. Severe deprivations are causally related to ‘poor’ developmental outcomes both long and short term. it is necessary to define the threshold measures of severe deprivation of basic human need for:
• • • • • • • •
food safe drinking water sanitation facilities health shelter education information access to services. High quality household and individual survey data were available from 46 countries. It is a particularly good sample of African children (with interview data on one child in every 650) although the number of children in the East Asian and Pacific sample (123. the threshold measures for severe deprivation.000 were households with children (Table 2. Theoretically. conform to internationally agreed standards and conventions. that is. 2) Severe water deprivation: children who only had access to surface water (for example. 2001).
Operational measures of absolute poverty for children
The most appropriate available data which could be used to operationalise the measurement of child poverty in developing countries were the DHS and. Some compromise always has to be made when dealing with survey data. However.1: Continuum of deprivation
Mild Moderate Severe
No deprivation
Extreme deprivation
In order to measure absolute poverty among children. collected since the
2
Full technical details on how all these measures were constructed can be found in Gordon et al (2003). well-being and development of children. since a reliable taxonomy is a prerequisite for any scientific measurement.2 million (approximately one in every 1. Detailed face-to-face interview data were available for almost 500.500). In this research.500 children in the developing world) and the information about the children’s lives was reported by their mothers or main carers. for most countries. rivers) for drinking or who lived in households where the nearest source of water was more than 15 minutes away (indicators of severe deprivation of water quality or quantity).
A taxonomy of severe deprivation is required.
1990s (and.1). the severe deprivation measures that were available are conceptually very close to our idealised measures. 2001).Measurement of child poverty and standard of living
Figure 2.

structure. telephone or newspapers at home. no private or communal toilets or latrines.1: Operational definitions of deprivation for children
Deprivation Food Safe drinking water Mild Bland diet of poor nutritional value Not having enough water on occasion due to lack of sufficient money Moderate Going hungry on occasion No access to water in dwelling but communal piped water available within 200m of dwelling or less than 15 minutes walk away Sanitation facilities outside dwelling Inadequate medical care Severe Malnutrition Long walk to water source (more than 200m or longer than 15 minutes). this kind of information was only available for a few countries.
8) Severe deprivation of access to basic services: children living 20km or more from any type of school or 50km or more from any medical facility with doctors. Only limited non-professional medical care available when sick Dwelling in poor repair. Unfortunately.Child poverty in the developing world
Table 2. in the overwhelming majority of cases. we have assumed that a
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. television. that is. so it has not been possible to construct accurate regional estimates of severe deprivation of access to basic services. More than 3 people no flooring. Few facilities in dwelling. the cause of severe deprivation of basic human need is invariably a result of lack of resources/ income. 4) Severe health deprivation: children who had not been immunised against any diseases or young children who had a recent illness involving diarrhoea and had not received any medical advice or treatment. non-permanent per room structural problems. For this reason. 6) Severe educational deprivation: children aged between 7 and 18 who had never been to school and were not currently attending school (no professional education of any kind). Unsafe drinking water (eg open water) No sanitation facilities in or near dwelling Extreme Starvation No access to water
Sanitation facilities Health
Shelter
Education
Information
Basic social services
No immunisation against diseases. More than 1 person lack of heating. Children who suffer from these levels of severe deprivation are very likely to be living in absolute poverty because. just one per room or two rooms. 7) Severe information deprivation: children aged between 3 and 18 with no access to radio. More than 5 people per room Inadequate teaching Unable to attend Child is 7 or older and due to lack of secondary but can has received no primary resources attend primary or secondary education education Cannot afford No television but can No access to radio. a mud floor). No facilities in house. 5) Severe shelter deprivation: children in dwellings with more than five people per room (severe overcrowding) or with no flooring material (for example. no privacy. etc No access to health or education facilities
3) Severe deprivation of sanitation facilities: children who had no access to a toilet of any kind in the vicinity of their dwelling. However. newspapers or books afford a radio television or books or newspapers Health and education Inadequate health and Limited health and facilities available but education facilities near education facilities a occasionally of low by (eg less than 1 hour day’s travel away standard travel)
Having to share facilities with another household Occasional lack of access to medical care due to insufficient money
No access to sanitation facilities No medical care
Roofless – no shelter
Prevented from learning due to persecution and prejudice Prevented from gaining access to information by government. girls suffering severe education deprivation) or due to disease (severe malnutrition can be caused by some diseases). there may also be some children in this situation due to discrimination (for example.

443 Middle East and North Africa 34.858 388.960 28.037.000 317.056 East Asia and Pacific 62.709 276. The main practical criteria used to select these measures of severe deprivations were: • data availability for a large number of children.828.400 1.755.000 1.432 142.607 Number of children in sample 189.761.000 559.494 49. For example.000 154. ‘malnutrition measured as anthropometric failure below –3 standard deviations from the reference population median’ instead of ‘below –2 standard deviations from the reference median’.883 Number of children under 18 (UN figures.773 World total 488. the measures used represent more severe deprivations than the indicators frequently published by international organisations. ‘no immunisations of any kind’ instead of ‘incomplete immunisation against common diseases’. and so on.183. We have. by region
Sample size (all households) Number of households with children 71. Thus. The purpose of this study was to measure children’s living conditions that were so severely deprived that they were indicative of absolute poverty.Measurement of child poverty and standard of living
Table 2. • the definitions must be consistent with international norms and agreements.863 95. ‘no sanitations facilities’ instead of ‘unimproved sanitations facilities’. in the tradition of Rowntree (1901).280 487.2: Summary sample size details.482.
9
.980 Sub-Saharan Africa 178.615.885 123.000 603. 2000) 193.860.215
child is living in absolute poverty only if he or she suffers from two or more severe deprivations of basic human need as defined above.963 South Asia 116.609 106.000
Region
Latin America and Caribbean 95. ‘no schooling’ instead of ‘non-completion of primary school’. tried to err on the side of caution in defining these indicators of absolute poverty in such severe terms that few would question that these living conditions were unacceptable.

Summary of main results on absolute poverty
• Over a third of all children in developing countries (37% or 674 million) are living in absolute poverty. shelter. 65% (207 million
10
. • Rural children experience much higher levels of severe deprivation than urban children. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. • Rural children face significantly higher levels of poverty than urban children. closely followed by rural children in the Middle East and North Africa (82%). that is. The second sub-section examines the distribution of severe deprivation. • Rates are lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and the Pacific regions at 17% and 7%. • Two regions. • Severe shelter and severe sanitation deprivation are the problems affecting the highest proportion of children in the developing world (Figure 3. respectively. The third and final subsection compares absolute poverty rates between and within regions – where absolute poverty is defined as the condition of those children who suffer from multiple severe deprivations – two or more different types of severe deprivation of basic human need (see Chapter 2 for discussion). • Rates of absolute poverty are highest in SubSaharan Africa and South Asia. defined as children suffering from one or more forms of severe deprivation of basic human need. have severe deprivation rates of over 80%. more than 90% of rural children in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are severely deprived of basic human needs. For example. education and access to information.1).
Summary of main results of severe deprivation of basic human need
• Over half of the world’s children in developing countries (56%) – just over one billion children – are severely deprived. respectively. It begins by summarising the main results of the study and is followed by three sub-sections which each consider the data in more detail. health. defined in terms of children experiencing one or more severe deprivations.Child poverty in the developing world
3
Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
Introduction
This chapter describes the distribution of severe deprivation of basic human need among children in the developing world. with rates for absolute poverty rising to 70% or above in both rural Sub-Saharan Africa and rural South Asia. Differences within regions are also examined in terms of gender and locality. The first of these sub-sections compares the extent of severe deprivation in the regions of the developing world with regards to each of the seven indicators. sanitation. This is a shocking result given that absolute poverty has been defined in this study as suffering from two or more forms of severe deprivations of basic human need. water. food. children) and 59% (330 million children).

The study also reveals that there may be significant differences in rates of severe deprivation among children within regions. Over half of the world’s severely food deprived children live in South Asia (53 million). Sanitation deprivation: over half a billion children (31%) in the developing world have no toilet facilities whatsoever. Water deprivation: nearly 376 million children (20%) in the developing world are using unsafe (open) water sources or have more than a 15-minute walk to water.1: Percentage of children severely deprived of basic human needs
Shelter Sanitation Information Water Food Health Education 0 5 10 15 % 20 25 30 35
Shelter deprivation: more than a half a billion of the developing world’s children (34%) have to live in dwellings with more than five people per room or which have mud flooring.Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
Figure 3. for other examples). 134 million children aged between 7 and 18 (13%) are severely educationally deprived – they have never been to school. 61%. Health deprivation: 265 million children in the developing world (15%) have not been immunised against any diseases or have had a recent illness causing diarrhoea and have not received any medical advice or treatment. respectively.
Results by region
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of severe deprivation with respect to four of the seven indicators (Figure 3. information and food deprivation.2). 40% and 27%. The region also suffers from the highest rates of deprivation with respect to education (30%) and health (27%). this region has the lowest rates of severe sanitation deprivation. For example. Children in East Asia are the least likely to be severely deprived with respect to five of the seven indicators. Information deprivation: almost half a billion children (25%) in the developing world lack access to radio. For example. Food deprivation: over 15% of children under five years of age in the developing world are severely food deprived. Education deprivation: throughout the developing world. in Sub-Saharan Africa. because China – which has a rate of less than 2% – contributes to the low regional average (5%). telephone or newspapers at home.
11
. only 19% of Mali children live in severely water deprived conditions. compared to 90% of Rwandan children (see Gordon et al. 2003. South Asia has the highest percentages of children experiencing sanitation. over half of whom (91 million children) are in South Asia. television. More than half of this region’s children are severely shelter deprived (198 million) as well as water deprived (167 million).

but rural children are also almost three times more likely than urban children to live in very overcrowded conditions or in accommodation which has only mud flooring. there is a slight female disadvantage in South Asia and the Middle East and the North Africa regions. by region
East Asia
Water Sanitation Food Education Health Shelter
Information
Latin America
Middle East
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
World 0 10 20 30 % 40 50 60 70
Results by rural–urban locality
Rural children are much more likely to be deprived than urban children with respect to all seven areas of deprivation of basic human need (Figure 3. health and education). Boys are more likely to be severely food deprived in all regions. However. Girls are
12
. more than a dozen countries have a slight female disadvantage. The Sub-Saharan African region has a mixed pattern of gender inequalities in health. at the overall level. a slightly higher proportion of boys are severely health deprived compared to girls.
Results by gender
Gender differences could only be meaningfully assessed where there was direct information on children (for example. respectively) and health deprivation (15% and 14%. The greatest difference between urban and rural children is in severe sanitation deprivation (41% in rural areas compared to 9% in urban areas).3). The pattern of rural children’s disproportionate experience of deprivation exists in all five regions.
at least 60% more likely than boys to be severely educationally deprived. They suffer particularly high rates of disadvantage in the Middle East and North Africa.Child poverty in the developing world
Figure 3. in relation to food. except South Asia where severe food deprivation is more prevalent in girls. While. the study shows significant gender discrepancies in education but not in food or health deprivation (Figure 3. where they are three times more likely than boys to be without primary or secondary school education. respectively).4). With respect to severe health deprivation. At the global level. girls and boys are roughly equally disadvantaged with respect to severe food deprivation (15% and 16%.2: Percentage of children severely deprived.

inequalities among children within regions are greatest in the Middle East and North Africa. Whereas more than 531 million of the developing world’s rural children are severely shelter deprived.286 42 530.511 83. at 62%. also has the highest proportions of urban children living in these appalling conditions (28% or 21 million children). However. homelessness. Rural children are significantly more likely than their urban counterparts to be living in circumstances of severe shelter deprivation (42% compared to 15%) (Figure 3. open pit latrines and bucket latrines) by the Joint Monitoring Programme are not counted as severely deprived in this report.2). whereas South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa have risks of 45% each.987
3
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
52 223. Thus. children with sanitation facilities which are considered not improved (for example. Sub-Saharan Africa.
Figure 3. open pit latrines and bucket latrines. a note of caution is required in the interpretation of these findings as the indicator of severe shelter deprivation used in this study may underestimate the dwelling-related problems
experienced by children living in urban areas. By contrast. where rural children are more than four times as likely as urban children in the same region to be severely shelter deprived (62% compared to 15%). and pour/flush latrines). Notwithstanding this caveat.041 21. only 8% of children living in East Asia and the Pacific are severely shelter deprived.169
Data concerning sanitation collected by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) under the Joint Monitoring Programme refer to ‘improved’ sanitation facilities (connections to public sewers or septic systems.
70
62
Rural Urban
52
60 50
42 46
40 30 20 10 0 World Sub-Saharan Middle East Africa and North Africa South Asia Latin America East Asia and Pacific
15 28 24 15 12 10 5
Table 3. public or shared latrines. However.
14
.288 73 176.Child poverty in the developing world
The risks of experiencing shelter deprivation vary enormously between regions. although it is acknowledged that the use of a bucket or open pit latrine is a far from appropriate or adequate method of waste disposal3. severe sanitation deprivation is defined as a child having no access to any sanitation facilities of any description. as well as having the highest rates of rural children living in shelter deprivation. ‘Not improved’ facilities include public or shared latrines.738 Urban children Number % (000s) 12 24 15 28 5 15 14.783
30. Rates of severe shelter deprivation are highest for rural children in SubSaharan Africa (73% or 176 million children) and lowest for urban children in East Asia and the Pacific (5% or 8. there are important discrepancies between regions with regards to rates among rural children. simple and ventilated improved pit latrines.6: Percentage of rural and urban children suffering severe shelter deprivation
% 80
73
Sanitation deprivation
For the purposes of this report.142 8.487 8.135 62 61.336 10 41.5 million).2: Rural and urban children suffering severe shelter deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 46 28.6 and Table 3. only 83 million urban children are affected by the same conditions. for example. Sub-Saharan Africa has a rate that is almost double the world’s average.

UNICEF. 2000). At the overall level. WSSCC.188 566. at 61% (344 million children). at 19% (24 million children).948 50.604 39.
15
. Over half a billion children in rural areas lack access to any form of sanitation facility. lacking any form of sanitation facility.902 5 23. The highest urban rate is in South Asia. The Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and Caribbean regions both have rural rates over 40%.4: Rural and urban children suffering severe sanitation deprivation
Region Rural children Number % (000s) 41 25.3).4). respectively. considerably lower than all other regions – although this can be explained by the high availability of public (communal) sanitation facilities in China.250 46 110. confirming the findings of the 2000 Global water supply and sanitation assessment (GWSSA) results (WHO.839
With regards to sanitation deprivation in urban areas. the urban rate of severe sanitation deprivation is 9% (51 million children) (Figure 3. at 4% (less than 7 million children) and 5% (just over 2 million children).8: Percentage of rural and urban children suffering severe sanitation deprivation
% 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 World South Asia Sub-Saharan Latin Middle East East Asia Africa America and North and Pacific Africa
9 19 12 6 5 5 4 41 46 41 38
74
Rural Urban
Table 3. at 5% (30 million children) and the highest in South Asia.8 and Table 3. SubSaharan Africa also has a relatively high rate at 38% (120 million children). at 41% (516 million children).742 119. at 5% (23 million children).617
Figure 3.7: Percentage of children suffering severe sanitation deprivation
% 70
61
60 50 40
31 38
Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
74 319.950 24. The rural rate is nearly five times higher.580 Urban children Number % (000s) 6 19 5 12 4 9 7.089
30 20 10 0 World South Asia
26 17
5
SubMiddle East Latin Saharan and North America Africa Africa
East Asia and Pacific
Table 3.Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
We found that 31% of children (nearly 567 million children) in developing countries are severely sanitation deprived. Differences between urban and rural areas are considerable.462 8. improved or otherwise (Figure 3.833 30. the lowest rate is in the East Asia and Pacific region.292 2. the East Asia and Pacific and Middle East and North Africa regions both have relatively low rates.966 6. with South Asia having the highest rate of 74% (319 million children).472 343.223 41 516. In rural areas. The lowest rate is in the East Asia and Pacific region.3: Children suffering severe sanitation deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 17 61 26 38 5 31 33.
Figure 3.7 and Table 3.135 38 37. Each of the other regions has rural sanitation deprivation rates above 35%.

678 447.834
Table 3. radio.10: Percentage of rural and urban children (3 years+) suffering severe information deprivation
% 50
47
45
Rural Urban
30
25 23
40
31
20
30 20
10
19 11 20
28 19 14
10
7
10
5
9 4
0 World South Asia SubSaharan Africa Middle East and North Africa Latin America East Asia and Pacific
0 World South Asia SubMiddle East Latin East Asia Saharan and North America and Pacific Africa Africa
Table 3.Child poverty in the developing world
Information deprivation
Globally.090
Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
47 201. lower than average rates were found in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean (10%) and East Asia and the Pacific (7%). where there are almost four rural children who are deprived for every one urban child (19% compared to only 5%).10 and Table 3. Analysis by region reveals that 40% of South Asian and 39% of Sub-Saharan African children suffer from severe information deprivation (226 and 124 million children.966 124. the regions with highest rates are again Sub-Saharan Africa (20%) and South Asia (19%).283 44.646 23.6).977 9 37. On the other hand.5: Children (3 years+) suffering severe information deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 10 40 23 39 7 25 18.5)4. it is estimated that 25% of all children aged three years and above are severely information deprived. The highest rates among rural children are in South Asia at 47% (202 million children) and Sub-Saharan Africa at 45% (109 million children).
16
.227 7.122 60.
Severe information deprivation among children is far more extensive in rural areas than in urban areas (31% or 388 million children compared to 11% or 60 million children) (Figure 3. these global figures disguise the real magnitude of information deprivation in some regions. the greatest inequalities in access to information are among children living in Latin America and the Caribbean.6: Rural and urban children (3 years+) suffering severe information deprivation
Region Rural children Number % (000s) 19 11. respectively). On the other hand.748 Urban children Number % (000s) 5 19 14 20 4 11 6. This means that one in four children in developing countries lack access to television.525 34.440 15.515 45 108.
Figure 3. Nevertheless.946 28 27.9 and Table 3. telephone or newspapers.9: Percentage of children (3 years+) suffering severe information deprivation
% 40
40 39
Figure 3.381 225. Among urban children. while the lowest rates affect children in East Asia and the Pacific at 9% (37 million children).656 7. representing almost 448 million children (Figure 3.601
4
The authors know of no previous attempts to measure information deprivation among children.415 31 387.

674 63 152. This means over a third of a billion children have more than a 15-minute walk to their source of water (thus limiting the quantity they use).12 and Table 3.8: Rural and urban children suffering severe water deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 20 21 12. The rate in rural areas is over three times higher.199 166. at 11% (nearly 48 million children).192 2.4 million children) and the highest urban rate is in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Middle East and North Africa region has the second highest rural rate of 34% (34 million children) although the geographic features of the region (that is. The East Asia and Pacific region has a relatively low rate of severe water deprivation.943 40. the lowest rate of severe water deprivation among children is in the Latin America and Caribbean region. where 7% (14 million children) are severely water deprived. Of the five regions.983
17
. Sub-Saharan Africa has by far the highest rate. Rates of severe water deprivation in rural areas are considerably higher.885 88.611 36.434 11.7).877 58.11 and Table 3. At the overall level. at 27% (335 million children). All other regions have rural rates over 20%.318 99. 7% of urban areas (nearly 41
Figure 3. The East Asia and Pacific region has the lowest rural rate by far. surface water).649 Urban children Number % (000s) 1 9 5 19 6 7 1. desert and
Figure 3.565 375. at 10% (59 million children).8).11: Percentage of children suffering severe water deprivation
% 60
53
million children) are severely water deprived. at 1% (1.039 11 47. the lowest rate is in the Latin America and Caribbean region. There are considerable differences in children’s severe water deprivation between rural and urban areas in each of the five regions (Figure 3. In urban areas. The other regions all have urban rates of water deprivation below 10%. or are using unsafe sources of water (that is.880
Table 3. at 19% (15 million children). with the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa at 63% (152 million children).626 14.Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
Water deprivation
This study has estimated that 21% of children (nearly 376 million children) are severely water deprived (Figure 3.685 10. at 53% (167 million children).737 27 334.7: Children suffering severe water deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 7 18 24 53 10 21 14.12: Percentage of rural and urban children suffering severe water deprivation
% 70
63
60 50 40
Rural Urban
50 40
34
30
30
24
27 19 21 20 9 5 1 11 6
20
18 10 7
20 10 0
21
10 0
7
World
SubSaharan Africa
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
Latin America
East Asia and Pacific
World
SubSaharan Africa
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
East Asia and Pacific
Latin America
Table 3.569
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
34 33.

9: Children (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 5 27 12 19 5 15 2. at 3% (965. The lowest rates are in the East Asia and Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean regions.102 4.571 2.714 6.640 74. it is estimated that 15% of children under five years old (representing 91 million children) in developing countries are severely food deprived (Figure 3.926 45. At an overall level. Since anthropometric data are rarely collected on or available for children over five years of age.10). In rural areas. the data presented in this report only refer to children under five in developing countries. the lowest rate of food deprivation is in the Latin America and Caribbean region.955 17.321 Urban children Number % (000s) 3 19 8 12 6 10 965 8. The South Asia and Latin America and Caribbean regions have similar rural rates of 21% (89 million children) and 20% (13 million children).953
Table 3.000 children) and highest in South Asia.885 53.067 1.14 and Table 3. 10% of urban children under the age of five (nearly 17 million children) and 18% of rural children under five (74 million children) are severely food deprived (Figure 3. at 4% (under 5 million children) and highest in South Asia at 29% (nearly 46 million children).286 7. the lowest rate is in the East Asia and Pacific region.698 4. In urban areas. at 19% (8 million children). respectively.14: Percentage of rural and urban children (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
% 35 30 25 20 15
18 19 20 29
Rural Urban
25 20 15 10 5 0
5 5 15 12
12
13 10 8 6 3 4
19
10 5 0
10
World
South Asia
Sub. South
Figure 3.998 3.Child poverty in the developing world
semi-desert regions) limit the availability of water. each at 5%.13 and Table 3.328
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
18
.Middle East Saharan and North Africa Africa
Latin East Asia America and Pacific
World
South Asia
SubMiddle East Saharan and North Africa Africa
Latin America
East Asia and Pacific
Table 3. At the global level. a failure to grow at normal rates to ‘normal’ weights and heights) in children under the age of five.483 20.960 91.
Asia has the highest overall rate at 27% (54 million children).
Food deprivation
Severe food deprivation is measured using data on severe anthropometric failure (that is. Differences in severe food deprivation are very pronounced between urban and rural areas.10: Rural and urban children (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 10 29 13 20 4 18 1.13: Percentage of children (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
% 30
27
Figure 3.352 16.9).

The Latin America and Caribbean and East Asia and Pacific regions have the lowest rates of food deprivation for boys. a child was considered severely health deprived if they had not received any of the eight immunisations recommended by the WHO’s expanded programme of immunisation (EPI) or if they had had untreated diarrhoea in the two weeks prior to the DHS survey interview.11 shows.947 48. It is estimated that. at the overall level.003
World
SubSaharan Africa
South Asia
Middle East and North Africa
Latin America
East Asia and Pacific
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
Table 3.15 and Table 3.233 18.113 264. it is estimated that 16% of boys under five (48 million boys) and 15% of girls under five (44 million girls) are severely food deprived. with 23% (129 million children) and 27% (84 million children).
Figure 3.5 million boys) and 28% (27 million girls).15: Percentage of girls and boys (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
% 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 World South Asia SubSaharan Africa
5 6 3 6 15 16 18 19 28
% 30
27
26
Girls Boys
25 20
23
11
12
15 10
15 14
Latin Middle East East Asia and North America and Pacific Africa
7
5
3
0
Table 3. it is apparent that slight differences do occur between regions. For the purposes of this report.790 2.323 43. as Table 3.16 and Table 3.494 10.501 5.776
19
.711 20.557 26. While. at the overall level. 15% of children in developing countries (265 million children) are severely health deprived (Figure 3.
Health deprivation
A range of factors determines the health of children and no single indicator can sufficiently reflect the burden of disease or complete extent of morbidity.332 27. each at 6%.11). gender differences in severe food deprivation are not clear.Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
Gender differences in severe food deprivation appear to be relatively unimportant among children under five years of age (Figure 3.727 Boys Number % (000s) 6 26 12 19 6 16 1.504 3. The lowest rate is in East Asia and the Pacific at 3% (18 million children) and the highest rates are in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.16: Percentage of children suffering severe health deprivation
Figure 3.257 3. East Asia has the lowest rate for girls at 3% (just over 2 million girls). respectively.12). At the overall level. South Asia has the highest rates of food deprivation for both boys and girls.949 84.770 128.11: Girls and boys (<5 years) suffering severe food deprivation
Girls Number % (000s) 5 28 11 18 3 15 1. at 26% (26.025 9.12: Children suffering severe health deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 7 23 14 27 3 15 12.

436 10.821 Urban children Number % (000s) 4 14 6 13 6 8 5.497 65.14: Girls and boys suffering severe health deprivation
Girls Number % (000s) 7 24 15 26 3 6. and the highest rate is in Sub-Saharan Africa. The East Asia and Pacific region also has the lowest rate for girls. The highest rate for boys is in Sub-Saharan Africa.478
21 263.245 11.
Figure 3. At the regional level.17: Percentage of rural and urban children suffering severe health deprivation
% 35 30 25
21 30 26
Figure 3.482 30 13 72.Child poverty in the developing world
As with the other measures of severe deprivation.13: Rural and urban children suffering severe health deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 11 6.555 9.118 40. 14% (133 million boys) compared to 15% (132 million girls). at 26% (41 million girls).864 43. around 17 million children). The lowest urban rate of child health deprivation is found in the Latin America and Caribbean region. the lowest rate of severe health deprivation is in the Latin America and Caribbean region. although the Middle East and North Africa and East Asia and Pacific regions both have low rates.652 55.169 3.18: Percentage of girls and boys suffering severe health deprivation
%
Rural Urban
30
26 27 24 22
25
18 13 8 6 6 4 14 13 11
Girls Boys
20 15 10 5 0 World SubSaharan Africa South Asia
20 15 10
7 7 3 3 15 14 15 13
5
Middle East East Asia and North and Pacific Africa Latin America
0 World
SubSaharan Africa
South Asia
Middle East and North Africa
Latin East Asia America and Pacific
Table 3. there are considerable differences between urban and rural areas (Figure 3. the rate of severe health deprivation in boys is slightly less than it is for girls. The highest urban rates are in Sub-Saharan Africa (13%. at 3% (10 million boys).136
15 132.035
Table 3. It is likely that the burden of ill-health is actually far greater than is implied by the measures of severe health deprivation used in this report. at 27% (43 million boys).14 present the data on severe health deprivation by gender. at 11% (nearly 7 million children). Eight per cent of urban children (47 million children) and 21% of rural children (263 million children) are severely health deprived. the lowest rate of severe health deprivation for boys is in East Asia and the Pacific.18 and Table 3. around 10 million children) and South Asia (14%.392 9. At the overall level.345
20
.124
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
26 110. at 4% (nearly 6 million children). at 30% (73 million children).971 10.366 63.703 18 17.734 17.13). It should be noted that diseases such as pneumonia. What is certain
Figure 3. at 3% (under 9 million girls) and Sub-Saharan Africa again has the highest rate.144
14 133. In rural areas.633 Boys Number % (000s) 7 22 13 27 3 6.661 8. which account for a large proportion of child deaths and ill-health in the developing world.769 47. malaria and tuberculosis. each at 6%.17 and Table 3. are not measured by these data.

at 3% and 1%. whereas Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia have relatively low rates. never having gone to school (Figure 3.19 and Table 3.20: Percentage of rural and urban children (aged 7-18) suffering severe educational deprivation
% 40
35 33
Rural Urban
30
22
20
23
17 13
19
10
5 6
10 7 2 1 1
13
0 World SubSaharan Africa Middle East and North Africa South Asia Latin America East Asia and Pacific
Table 3.16). respectively. as do the Middle East and North African (23% or 19 million children) and South Asian (19% or 57 million children) regions.183
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
17 117.700 3. compared to only 5% of all urban children (Figure 3. The Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa regions have well aboveaverage rates of severe education deprivation among rural children.556 623 16. Seventeen per cent of all rural children aged between 7 and 18 experience severe education deprivation.428 50.055 16.
Education deprivation
Throughout the developing world. rural children in the Middle East and North
Figure 3.542 Urban children Number % (000s) 2 10 6 13 1 5 1.380
Table 3. For example. and so increasing numbers of children will continue to suffer and die from a range of causes. higher than average prevalence rates of educational deprivation exist in the Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia regions (13% and 10%.15).Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
is that the decline of public health systems and services means that appropriate care is rarely available.541 6. affordable or provided.028 57. defined as lacking any primary or secondary school education.19: Percentage of children (aged 7-18) suffering severe educational deprivation
% 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 World SubSaharan Africa Middle East and North Africa South Asia Latin America East Asia and Pacific
3 1 30
There are significant urban–rural differences in lack of access to education. respectively.274 4.877 44. Rates of severe educational deprivation are higher among rural children in every single region of the developing world.16: Rural and urban (aged 7-18) children suffering severe educational deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 7 22 33 35 1 2.139 134. Some regions exhibit large inequalities between urban and rural children. With regards to urban children. 13% of all children (134 million) aged between 7 and 18 are severely educationally deprived. respectively).608 50.134 18.20 and Table 3.
Figure 3.602
21
.892 1.768 5. Sub-Saharan Africa has an above-average rate of 30% (50 million children). that is. a large number of which (such as diarrhoea and the EPI six targeted diseases) are preventable. at 33% and 35%.15: Children (aged 7-18) suffering severe educational deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 3 19 23 30 1 13 4.

123 53.
Figure 3. It is estimated that 80 million girls have received neither a primary nor secondary school education.22: Percentage of children suffering severe deprivation
% 90
83 82
30
Girls Boys
27 25
80 70 60
56 65
20
16 14 12 10
50 40
3 4 1 1
35 23
10
30 20 10 0 World SubSaharan Africa South Asia Middle East and North Africa Latin America East Asia and Pacific
0 World Middle East and North Africa SubSaharan Africa South Asia
Latin America
East Asia and Pacific
Table 3.21 and Table 3. However. the greatest gender
Figure 3.028.Child poverty in the developing world
Africa are at least five times more likely than their urban counterparts to be severely educationally deprived (33% compared to only 6%).056 1.293 2.460 137.299 Boys Number % (000s) 4 14 12 27 1 10 2. This study also reveals significant gender discrepancies in access to education both between regions and within them.17: Girls and boys (aged 7-18) suffering severe educational deprivation
Girls Number % (000s) 3 25 34 32 1 16 1.493 459.17).679
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
Table 3.21: Percentage of girls and boys (aged 7-18) suffering severe educational deprivation
% 40
34 32
inequalities exist in the Middle East and North Africa region where educationally deprived girls outnumber boys by almost three to one. respectively.
Distribution of severe deprivation
This next section looks at the distribution of severe deprivation among the regions of the developing world. Globally.444 99. The East Asia and the Pacific region has the greatest gender equality with respect to access to education.22 and Table 3. The regions of the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa have above-average deprivation rates among girls.491 27.054 1. severe deprivation has been defined as children experiencing one or more severe deprivations of basic human need. they are over one-and-a-half times more likely than boys to suffer severe educational deprivation (16% compared to 10%) (Figure 3. compared to 54 million boys.100 23.822 35.148 21.804
22
.015 5.354 264.946 80. There are also many more educationally deprived girls than boys throughout the world.983 13.18 show the number and proportion of children in the five UNICEF regions suffering one or more severe deprivations. Figure 3. at 34% and 32%. whereas Latin America and the Caribbean reveals a very small gender bias against boys rather than girls. Girls are much more likely than boys to be at risk of being educationally deprived.18: Children suffering severe deprivation
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 35 82 65 83 23 56 68. For the purposes of this study.

578 30.115
31 175. at 65% (nearly 207 million children).20: Children suffering from absolute poverty
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world % Number (000s) 17 59 40 65 7 37 33.050
World
SubSaharan Africa
South Asia
Middle East Latin and North America Africa
East Asia and Pacific
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
Table 3.19). absolute poverty is defined as multiple severe deprivation of basic human need – that is.23 and Table 3.927 43. respectively).174 17.405
23
. at 17% and 25% respectively. South Asia also has a high rate of absolute poverty. All but two of the regions have severe deprivation rates above 50%.
Figure 3.471 674.249
92 398.613 61. For the purposes of this report. The lowest rate is in the East Asia and Pacific region (23%).669 40. The lowest rate is found in the East Asia and Pacific region. with 59% (330 million children) of children suffering two or more forms of severe deprivation. Approximately a third of children (over 175 million) in urban areas and two thirds of children (853 million) in rural areas are severely deprived of basic human needs (Figure 3. South Asia has the largest numbers of children living in severe deprivation in both urban and rural areas (61 million children and 398 million children. The East Asia and Pacific region has the lowest rates for both urban and rural areas.
Figure 3. 56% of children in the developing world (more than 1 billion children) are severely deprived of basic human needs.934 61. at 53% and 93%. children suffering from two or more different severe deprivations.153 206.Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world
At the global level.656 67 853.19: Rural and urban children suffering severe deprivation
Rural children Number % (000s) 67 42. at 7% (43 million children) and the highest rate is in Sub-Saharan Africa. while Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates for both urban and rural areas.24: Percentage of children in absolute poverty
%
80
67 67
Rural Urban
70 60 50
65 59
60
53 48
40
40
31 32 25
40 37
30
17
20
20
20
0 World SubSaharan Africa South Asia Middle East and North Africa Latin America East Asia and Pacific
17
10 0
7
Table 3.23: Percentage of rural and urban children suffering severe deprivation
% 100
93 92 82
Distribution of absolute poverty
The final section of this chapter compares the extent of absolute poverty among the different regions in the developing world.085 329.270 82 81.651 93 223.969 25 106.570 Urban children Number % (000s) 20 48 32 53 17 25. while rates are highest in South Asia (82%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (83%). More than one third (37%) of the developing world’s children (over 674 million children) are living in absolute poverty.

21: Rural and urban children in absolute poverty
Rural children Number % (000s) 41 25. The highest urban rates of absolute poverty are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Figure 3. Absolute poverty rates in rural areas are above 50% in all regions (except Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and Pacific).21).168 28.25: Percentage of rural and urban children in absolute poverty
% 80 70 60 50 40 30 20
12 25 22 9 9 3 48 41 57 78 70
Rural Urban
The lowest urban and rural rates of absolute poverty are found in the East Asia and Pacific region.
10 0 World SubSaharan Africa South Asia
6
Middle East Latin and North America Africa
East Asia and Pacific
Table 3.234 4.838 57 56.014 5.276 48 610.124 9 38. respectively.778
Region Latin America and Caribbean South Asia Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia and Pacific Developing world
70 301. with rates in both South Asia and SubSaharan Africa at 70% or more.Child poverty in the developing world
Most children in absolute poverty live in rural areas. at 3% (just over 5 million children) and 9% (38 million children). with the former’s urban absolute poverty rate at 25% (19 million children) compared to South Asia’s 22% (28 million children).769 Urban children Number % (000s) 6 22 9 25 3 12 7. although rates in the urban areas of some regions are also high (Figure 3.25 and Table 3. while the rural rate is much higher at 48% (610 million children).229
24
.978 19. The urban rate of absolute poverty is 12% (65 million children).222 78 188.385 64.

as a direct consequence of their appalling living conditions. where they are three times more likely than boys to be without primary or secondary school education.
• Over one third of children have to live in dwellings with more than five people per room or which have a mud flooring. Many others will have had their development so severely impaired that they may be unable to escape from a lifetime of grinding poverty. These findings are shocking given that severe deprivations of basic human need are those circumstances that are highly likely to have serious adverse consequences for the health. compared to 90% of Rwandan children. • 134 million children aged between 7 and 18 (13%) are severely educationally deprived in terms of lacking any school education whatsoever. there are significant gender differences with girls more likely to be severely educationally deprived. over half of whom (91 million children) are in South Asia. For example. • Over half a billion children (31%) have no toilet facilities whatsoever. • Over 20% of children (nearly 376 million) have more than a 15-minute walk to water or are using unsafe (open) water sources. Severe deprivations harm children in both the short term and the long term. Many of the absolutely poor children surveyed in this research will have died or had their health profoundly damaged by the time this report is published. well-being and development of children. within the region. • There are differences both between and within regions that are masked by the overall average rates. • 265 million children (15%) have not been immunised against any diseases or have had a recent illness involving diarrhoea and have not received any medical advice or treatment. water. This final chapter looks at what lessons can be learnt from this research and what could be done
25
. This research has measured absolute poverty using such severe criteria that any reasonable person would consider that these living conditions were unacceptable and damaging. No government or parent wants children to have to live like this. The definitions used in this study to identify severe deprivation of children’s basic human needs represent much worse living conditions than are usually reported by UN agencies. • At the global level. particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. This is particularly the case with respect to severe sanitation deprivation. only 19% of Mali children live in severely water deprived conditions. educational and health deprivation.
• Rural children are much more likely to be deprived than urban children in all seven areas of deprivation of basic human need and in all regions.4
Conclusions and policy implications
Over one billion children – more than half the children in developing countries – suffer from severe deprivation of basic human need and over one third (674 million) suffer from absolute poverty (two or more severe deprivations). • Over 15% of children under-five years in the developing world are severely food deprived. television. • Almost half a billion children (25%) lack access to radio. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of severe deprivation with respect to four of the seven indicators – severe shelter. However. telephone or newspapers at home.

and so on. 515 million rural children suffer from severe sanitation deprivation compared with 50 million urban children. Similarly. shelter.
The causes of absolute poverty
Absolute poverty has been measured within the internationally agreed framework of children’s rights.Child poverty in the developing world
to help eradicate absolute child poverty during the 21st century. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services”. During the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. sanitation. information and water deprivation. children wanting to use public facilities may be made to wait while adults use them first. demonstrates the partial success of international agencies and donors that have focused on improving children’s access to health and education services and preventing malnutrition. There has been some recent debate within the international community about the need to tackle the problems of housing. the most important improvements in standard of living and life expectancy of children in industrialised countries were as a result of significant public investment in housing. then they cannot go to school even if free high quality education is available. sanitation and water infrastructure investment in rural areas of the developing world. The evidence presented in this report points to the conclusion that UN and other international agencies. they may be too large for young children and present obvious dangers (such as falling in). If children are made chronically sick as a result of unsafe water supplies or inadequate sanitation or overcrowded housing conditions. lessons need to be drawn from the experiences of industrialised countries in combating poverty and improving children’s health. facilities lacking adequate lighting may intimidate young children wanting to use them at night. since it is directly linked to the most serious of childhood illnesses – diarrhoea and malnutrition.
26
. Improvements to this rural infrastructure would be the most effective method of reducing absolute child poverty.
Sanitation
Children are particularly affected by poor sanitation.
5
Approximately 530 million rural children suffer from severe shelter deprivation compared with 85 million urban children. good health facilities can help alleviate the symptoms of chronic sickness but they cannot tackle the underlying causes. Sanitation facilities provided for communities may often be unsuitable for children.
sanitation and water deprivation than is presently the case. sewerage and water systems. This research has shown that the severe deprivations that affect the greatest number of children are shelter. The only way to provide all absolutely poor rural children with adequate housing. much of this debate has focused on facilitating the private sector to provide additional investment and infrastructure in urban areas. governments and donors may need to give a higher priority to tackling the problems of severe shelter. health and education. Food aid will not be effective in reducing malnutrition if children suffer from chronic diarrhoea as a result of a lack of sanitation facilities and/or unsafe water. sanitation and water facilities is by public investment to pay for these infrastructure facilities. The needs of adolescent girls and young women for sanitation and privacy also need to be a priority. Fewer children suffer from severe deprivation of food. including food. health. If facilities are constructed for adults. safe drinking water. Since the prime motivation of the private sector is the need to optimise profits. However. Safe water. This. it is extremely unlikely that it will be able to provide water and sewerage infrastructure to all poor rural areas. housing and sanitation facilities are prerequisites for good health and education. This research shows that far more children in rural areas suffer from severe deprivation than their urban peers5. using a definition of absolute poverty that has been agreed to by 117 governments as: “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs. However. education and information. 335 million rural children suffer from severe water deprivation compared with 40 million urban children – see Chapter 3 for details. International agencies could be more active in campaigning for greater shelter. water and sanitation deprivation. in part. sanitation facilities. as this would not be profitable.

as these may become contaminated and dangerous. Children should not have to use unsafe (or unimproved) sources of water. without fear or intimidation6. such as lakes. Considerable international attention has focused on improving the housing conditions of urban slums. Successive UN conferences and conventions have sought to address the issue of poor housing and shelter deprivation in both developed and developing countries but progress on meeting children’s basic shelter needs has been slow. Improving water quality is clearly important for the health of children. Children use fields and open spaces to play.
Shelter Water
Severe water deprivation is an issue of both quality and quantity. Such facilities will need to be located and provided near to where people live. Improving the housing conditions of families with children in rural areas needs to be given greater priority. respiratory infections. measles). areas that are commonly used for defecation in the absence of public or private facilities. Distance to the water source is of special significance to children since they often help collect and carry the water. Toilet facilities are clearly a priority for children.Conclusions and policy implications
Sanitation facilities require effective drainage systems that carry sewage away from communities. Organisations like UNICEF could play a lead role in both raising funds and highlighting the crucial importance of eradicating severe sanitation deprivation as a method of helping eradicate absolute child poverty. especially to necks and backs. constructed from inferior materials. does not protect against the elements. They can also result in increased stress and mental health problems for both adults and children and lead to accidents and injuries. shanty towns and favelas. with less water used the further away the water source. Based in Tamil Nadu in India. ponds or streams. Facilities are provided free to children (http://gramalaya.
6
One non-governmental organisation running such schemes is Gramalaya. A caretaker from the community toilet teaches hand washing and its importance to the children and observes children’s hygiene behaviours. Overcrowded dwellings facilitate the transmission of disease (for example. run and maintain themselves. Water with soap is provided for hand washing after defecation.org/ childtoilets. compared with 15% of children in urban areas. stand-pumps. Poor quality shelter. which children can use in safety. Facilities are constructed adjacent to community toilets. The provision of sanitation facilities in schools is also important and should be supported. Organisations like UNICEF and the World Bank are already committed to improving children’s access to sanitation and should support organisations that try to establish and maintain public sanitation facilities. 1996). Communities need to have access to safe water (piped water.
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. It is important that international organisations. Such organisations have started to provide child-friendly facilities. The distance children need to go in order to get to their water supply is arguably of greater importance than water quality (Esrey.html). governments and donors take steps to help increase both the quality and quantity of water available to poor children if absolute poverty is to be eradicated. covered wells and so on). However. this research shows that severe shelter deprivation blights the lives of 42% of rural children in developing countries. that is. There has been some reluctance in the past to highlight the need to improve sanitation facilities as many people do not like to talk about human excreta disposal and donors have gained greater positive publicity for helping improve children’s health and education facilities than for funding latrines. the scheme came about after consultation with the local community. to cut journey times for collection. Carrying water over long distances can result in injuries.
through services that they can afford. The measure of severe water deprivation used in this report takes into account the issue of distance to water source – something the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of UNICEF and WHO does not. it focuses on water quality issues only. and the time spent collecting water can impact on school attendance. Water quantity is directly linked to distance to water supply.

after public infrastructure investment. popular restaurants. assistance for 7to 14-year-olds who are enabled to go to school and avoid the exacting toll of the worst conditions of child labour. 2003: forthcoming). based on the work of Peter Svedberg (2000). Benefits tended to
Child and family benefit
Another lesson that can be drawn from the experiences of industrialised countries in reducing child poverty is that. the Zero Hunger Programme intends to provide regular and sufficient supplies of quality food to all Brazilians in conjunction with accelerated social security reform. All countries with large numbers of children who are below an internationally recognised poverty line and also with comparatively low GDP should be entitled to participate. 2001). 1984. There is good scientific evidence that older children (particularly during puberty) may also be at risk of suffering from malnutrition. have managed to eradicate severe malnutrition and reduce mild-moderate malnutrition relatively quickly. UNICEF may want to consider development of this indicator and its potential use to monitor the international commitments to reduce child malnutrition by half by 2015. and thus may be more appropriate for use in target setting and resource allocation. They were extended in the first instance to civil servants and employees of large enterprises. 2002). There were benefits for relatively small groups that included healthcare. minimum income and food scholarships for pregnant and nursing mothers with incomes less than half the minimum wage or who are HIV positive. However. health and other schemes of direct benefit to children. For example. health and nutrition education and regular growth monitoring and surveillance (ACC/SCN. the targeting of food supplements to children and mothers. In Latin America. the most effective anti-poverty policy for children is the establishment of a child or family social security benefit. Africa and the Caribbean. Prabhu. The remaining annual resources of the fund would be made available to countries for investment in housing. disability allowances and pensions (Midgeley. sanitation and water infrastructure. food cards. The social security systems of developing countries present a diverse picture. Ahmad et al. sick and industrially injured and unemployed that are being enlarged year by year (Suplicy. It provides a more comprehensive indicator of malnutrition than existing measures. Partial systems were introduced by colonial authorities in most of Asia. the provision of food subsidies. Anthropometric data on older children need to be collected.
schemes of child benefit in cash or kind exist or where such schemes can be introduced. 2001. 2002) that an international children’s investment fund should be established under the auspices of the UN. Half its annual resources should be devoted to countries with extensive child poverty. A number of countries. Their success was based on clear political commitment to reducing malnutrition. strengthening of family agriculture and a variety of other measures to fight malnutrition. Such participation would require dependable information that the benefits are reaching children for whom they are intended. The first includes food banks.Child poverty in the developing world
Food
This research used severe anthropometric failure. It has been argued elsewhere (Townsend and Gordon. where
28
. 1991). in Brazil. maternity leave.to 17-year-olds. so that more accurate estimates of child malnutrition in the developing world can be made. In India. children more than –3 standard deviations below the international reference population median. benefits for elderly disabled people with special needs and a range of other transfer programmes for the elderly. widowed. A technical innovation of this research has been the development and use of a Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF). data on children’s height and weights are only usually collected for children up to five years old. distribution of emergency food baskets. education. as a measure of severe food deprivation. there are differences among major states as well as a range of schemes for smallish categories of population (Ghai. that is. Programmes to gradually increase public expenditure so that categories of the extreme poor start to benefit offer a realistic. The social security reform programme includes social assistance for low-income 15. affordable and successful method for poverty alleviation. some countries introduced schemes before the 1939-45 war and others followed suit after. such as Thailand and Costa Rica.

29
. less so to social and economic rights. compared with between 5 and 10% for most of Sub-Saharan Africa and 10 to 30% for most of Asia. constructing basic sanitation facilities at low cost. Articles 22 and 25 in the Declaration of Human Rights – dealing with the rights to an ‘adequate’ standard of living and social security – have been often overlooked in General Assembly and other reports from the UN. They are a cheap. effective and cheap ways to treat diarrhoea. UNICEF and other international organisations (such as the International Labour Organization [ILO]) should campaign for a legal right to child benefit under Articles 25 and 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. making simple water filters using locally available materials. All countries have the means to make radio broadcasts.
approximately 390 million living in rural areas and 60 million living in urban areas. availability of food supplements for malnourished children. in the 21st century. There are many examples of community radio networks that have an important role in the provision of public information (for example. The fundamental right to social security is also spelt out in Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the related rights to an adequate standard of living in Article 27. There were different systems for particular occupations and categories of workers and a multiplicity of institutions. the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network7. Radio is one of the main channels of information in developing countries. The most cost-effective intervention is through improvements to radio access. Governments could improve public information services and regularly broadcast programmes that inform communities about simple but effective changes they can make to their lives – for example. and so on). including getting children into school and increasing literacy rates for both children and adults. This study provides the first estimates of the extent of severe information deprivation among children. the benefits of hand washing. 1996). The development of cheap clockwork radios has meant the technology can be made widely available. immunisation for young children. A quarter of children in the developing world are severely information deprived. For example. effective means through which communities can be informed about the importance of education and health initiatives (for example. Without these basic essentials. This applies to civil and political rights. the World
The needs of children in the 21st century
The needs of children in the 21st century are different from those of children in the 19th and 20th centuries and new policies will be required to meet these needs. “The greatest challenge facing the developing countries is to extend the benefits of social security to the excluded majority to enable them to cope with indigence and social contingencies” (Huber. Reducing information deprivation will require action at a number of different levels. not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with approximately 500 radio broadcasters in over 70 countries to fight poverty and food insecurity.org). It supports broadcasters in meeting the needs of local small-scale farmers and their families in rural communities and helps broadcasters build the skills to develop content that responds to local needs (www. Between 20 and 60% of the workforce were covered. and so on. These recommendations are the key to a far better future for hundreds of millions of children. with
7
Developing Countries Farm Radio Network is a Canadianbased.farmradio. at an affordable price. But how might social security systems now evolve to provide universal beneficial effects of more substantial redistribution? Human rights now play a central part in discussions of international social policy. the impact and provision of newspapers and other media (such as computers and the Internet) will be limited. severe information deprivation is an important constraint on the development of both individual children and societies as a whole – many consider that ‘knowledge is power’.Conclusions and policy implications
be limited in range and coverage.

• supporting gender-responsive schools and allowing pregnant girls and teenage mothers to continue their education. • providing gender-sensitive curricula and textbooks.radiorobinhood. This applies to all levels of society including parents. commercialisation of the airwaves and the imposition of license fees have begun to affect community radio stations. UNESCO recently recommended a number of activities that governments should undertake to meet the goals of eliminating gender disparities in education by 2005 and achieving gender equality by 2015. Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have been committed to community media and radio networks for a number of years and support initiatives providing information to rural areas (Hughes. UN organisations like the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Educational. 2001. as they are pushed aside by commercial broadcasters. 2001). as well as a platform for debate and cultural expression. with girls in the Middle East and North Africa region three times more likely to be severely education deprived. Abolishing primary school fees may encourage and enable poor parents to send their children – and particularly their daughters – to school. www. • training more female teachers and make teacher training gender responsive. knowledge and skills already existing within the community. and so on. These included: • setting concrete targets and funding them adequately. As part of the global Education For All campaign. There are other practical interventions that can be pursued including the provision of incentives such as bursaries. Ilboudo. with girls 60% more likely to be deprived. easy to operate. • educating mothers – the most crucial measure for the sustained education of girls. it maximises the potential for development to be drawn from sharing the information. They have also argued for the granting of broadcast licences to women’s groups.000 members and associates in 106 countries. • making educational content relevant to local cultural and economic contexts so that parents see that educating girls improves their quality of life. reaches all segments of the community through local languages and can offer information. As one UNESCO report stated:
Community radio is low-cost. Community Radios Worldwide9). local transmitters that can provide information to local communities. Its goal is to support and contribute to the development of community and participatory radio along the principles of solidarity and international cooperation (www.fi/communityradios/articles
30
. politicians and schoolteachers. It can therefore act as a catalyst for community and individual empowerment. there needs to be a concurrent effort made to change social attitudes about the value of education for girls.
8
9
AMARC is an international NGO serving the community radio movement. For example. entertainment. (Hughes. and help train communities in accessing and using information effectively. Significant regional and country disparities were revealed in the study. Governments might consider allocating resources to the development of community media funds that would provide information over the airwaves on important issues such as health and education. The reasons why children (and particularly girls) do not go to school vary and policies need to be targeted at the causes of non-attendance if they are to be effective. However. local colleges and universities. In some countries. education.org/amarc/ang/).
UN agencies could help inform both governments and the public on the importance of information access for children and thereby raise the profile of this issue. with almost 3. As a grass-roots channel of communication. improved sanitation facilities and security. Community organisations have campaigned for the installation of small.amarc. 2001)
The poverty of girls
This study found that gender differences at the global level were greatest for severe education deprivation. cooperatives. children may not attend school because there is no school close enough or because it is too expensive or because the quality of the education is poor or because there is discrimination against girls going to school. They might also assist in the setting up of local radio networks.Child poverty in the developing world
Community Radio Movement8. free school meals and books.

Whereas shelter combined with water deprivation is the biggest problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. shelter combined with education deprivation affects the greatest number of poor children. caring for siblings and being forced to generate income. 352 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are engaged in economic activities. international and non-governmental organisations. Learning methods should address the fact that girls are heading households. almost 36% of households with children suffer from shelter and information deprivation.
This report has shown – for the first time – the true extent of the scale and nature of absolute child poverty in the developing world. of which 168 million are girls. in the Middle East and North African region. due to the severity of the measures used.
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. • building schools closer to girls’ homes to increase access. shelter combined with sanitation deprivation affects the greatest number of children. It is sadly the case that there is growing recognition of the fact that most of the Millennium Development Goals will not be met in time on current trends. A single set of anti-poverty policies for the planet is not the most effective or efficient way to eradicate child poverty. Research and reports from a number of international organisations (WHO. Vandemoortele. declining donor commitment to international aid. Investment in eradicating severe educational deprivation may be a very effective means of reducing absolute child poverty in some countries in North Africa and the Middle East but it would be much less effective in Latin America or South Asia where ending other severe child deprivations should be prioritised. UNDP. For the world as a whole. the campaign to eradicate child poverty still has a long way to go. policies will need to be targeted at the various problems they face. particularly for rural children. • including HIV/AIDS prevention in the curriculum. Aid donors and international agencies need to be aware – and make the public aware – of the need for tailored antipoverty strategies which deal with the ‘real’ problems faced by children in different countries. • education is a powerful ‘social vaccine’ against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.Conclusions and policy implications
• eliminating child labour. As things stand today (and as this report shows). 2002. 2001. According to a recent ILO report. 2003) suggest that the optimism shown at the end of the last millennium was either premature or misplaced. However. scientific methodology that shows that over half a billion children in the developing world live in absolute poverty. in order to eradicate absolute poverty among children. and increasing political and economic instability continue to work together to undermine the efforts of governments. It has used internationally agreed definitions of poverty and applied a sound. Issues such as international debt. It is clear that. communities and individuals. unequal trade and economic relations. By contrast. in South Asia. • making schools safe for girls and equipping them with separate toilets.
Regional and country-specific anti-poverty policies
This research has found that the major causes of absolute child poverty vary both between and within regions of the developing world. this is likely to be an underestimate.

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